An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Chapter 13 &14.1-14.2: Uncertainty & Bayesian Networks

An Introduction to Artificial IntelligenceChapter 13 &14.1-14.2: Uncertainty & Bayesian Networks Ramin Halavati (halavati@ce.sharif.edu)

Outline • Uncertainty • Probability • Syntax and Semantics • Inference • Independence and Bayes' Rule • Bayesian Network

Uncertainty Let action At = leave for airport t minutes before flight Will At get me there on time? Problems: • partial observability (road state, other drivers' plans, etc.) • noisy sensors (traffic reports) • uncertainty in action outcomes (flat tire, etc.) • immense complexity of modeling and predicting traffic Hence a purely logical approach either • risks falsehood: “A25 will get me there on time”, or • leads to conclusions that are too weak for decision making: “A25 will get me there on time if there's no accident on the bridge and it doesn't rain and my tires remain intact etc etc.” (A1440 might reasonably be said to get me there on time but I'd have to stay overnight in the airport …)

Making decisions under uncertainty Suppose I believe the following: P(A25 gets me there on time | …) = 0.04 P(A90 gets me there on time | …) = 0.70 P(A120 gets me there on time | …) = 0.95 P(A1440 gets me there on time | …) = 0.9999 • Which action to choose? Depends on my preferences for missing flight vs. time spent waiting, etc. • Utility theory is used to represent and infer preferences • Decision theory = probability theory + utility theory

Syntax • Basic element: random variable • Similar to propositional logic: possible worlds defined by assignment of values to random variables. • Boolean random variables e.g., Cavity (do I have a cavity?) • Discrete random variables e.g., Weather is one of <sunny,rainy,cloudy,snow> • Domain values must be exhaustive and mutually exclusive • Elementary proposition constructed by assignment of a value to a random variable: e.g., Weather =sunny, Cavity = false (abbreviated as cavity) • Complex propositions formed from elementary propositions and standard logical connectives e.g., Weather = sunny  Cavity = false

Axioms of probability • For any propositions A, B • 0 ≤ P(A) ≤ 1 • P(true) = 1 and P(false) = 0 • P(A B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(AB)

Prior probability • Prior or unconditionalprobabilities of propositions e.g., P(Cavity = true) = 0.1 and P(Weather = sunny) = 0.72 correspond to belief prior to arrival of any (new) evidence • Joint probability distribution for a set of random variables gives the probability of every atomic event on those random variables P(Weather,Cavity) = a 4 × 2 matrix of values: Weather = sunny rainy cloudy snow Cavity = true 0.144 0.02 0.016 0.02 Cavity = false 0.576 0.08 0.064 0.08 • Every question about a domain can be answered by the joint distribution

Inference by Numeration • Start with the joint probability distribution: • For any proposition φ, sum the atomic events where it is true: P(φ) = Σω:ω╞φ P(ω)

Inference by enumeration • Start with the joint probability distribution: • Can also compute conditional probabilities: P(cavity | toothache) = P(cavity toothache) P(toothache) = 0.016+0.064 0.108 + 0.012 + 0.016 + 0.064 = 0.4

Conditional probability • Conditional or posterior probabilities e.g., P(cavity | toothache) = 0.8 i.e., given that toothache is all I know • New evidence may be irrelevant, allowing simplification, e.g., P(cavity | toothache, sunny) = P(cavity | toothache) = 0.8

Conditional probability • Definition of conditional probability: P(a | b) = P(a  b) / P(b) if P(b) > 0 • Product rule gives an alternative formulation: P(a  b) = P(a | b) P(b) = P(b | a) P(a) • Chain rule is derived by successive application of product rule: P(X1, …,Xn) = P(X1,...,Xn-1) P(Xn | X1,...,Xn-1) = P(X1,...,Xn-2) P(Xn-1 | X1,...,Xn-2) P(Xn | X1,...,Xn-1) = … = πi= 1^n P(Xi | X1, … ,Xi-1)

Independence • A and B are independent iff P(A|B) = P(A) or P(B|A) = P(B) or P(A, B) = P(A) P(B) P(Toothache, Catch, Cavity, Weather) = P(Toothache, Catch, Cavity) P(Weather) • 32 entries reduced to 12; for n independent biased coins, O(2n) →O(n)

Bayes' Rule • P(ab) = P(a | b) P(b) = P(b | a) P(a)  Bayes' rule: P(a | b) = P(b | a) P(a) / P(b) • Useful for assessing diagnostic probability from causal probability: • P(Cause|Effect) = P(Effect|Cause) P(Cause) / P(Effect) • E.g., let M be meningitis, S be stiff neck: P(m|s) = P(s|m) P(m) / P(s) = 0.8 × 0.0001 / 0.1 = 0.0008 • Note: posterior probability of meningitis still very small!

Bayes' Rule and conditional independence P(Cavity | toothache  catch) = αP(toothache  catch | Cavity) P(Cavity) = αP(toothache | Cavity) P(catch | Cavity) P(Cavity) • This is an example of a naïve Bayes model: P(Cause,Effect1, … ,Effectn) = P(Cause) πiP(Effecti|Cause) • Total number of parameters is linear in n

Bayesian networks • A simple, graphical notation for conditional independence assertions and hence for compact specification of full joint distributions • Syntax: • a set of nodes, one per variable • a directed, acyclic graph (link ≈ "directly influences") • a conditional distribution for each node given its parents: P (Xi | Parents (Xi)) • In the simplest case, conditional distribution represented as a conditional probability table (CPT) giving the distribution over Xi for each combination of parent values

Example • Topology of network encodes conditional independence assertions: • Weather is independent of the other variables • Toothache and Catch are conditionally independent given Cavity

Example • I'm at work, neighbor John calls to say my alarm is ringing, but neighbor Mary doesn't call. Sometimes it's set off by minor earthquakes. Is there a burglar? • Variables: Burglary, Earthquake, Alarm, JohnCalls, MaryCalls • Network topology reflects "causal" knowledge: • A burglar can set the alarm off • An earthquake can set the alarm off • The alarm can cause Mary to call • The alarm can cause John to call

Example contd.

Compactness • A CPT for Boolean Xi with k Boolean parents has 2k rows for the combinations of parent values • Each row requires one number p for Xi = true(the number for Xi = false is just 1-p) • If each variable has no more than k parents, the complete network requires O(n · 2k) numbers • I.e., grows linearly with n, vs. O(2n)for the full joint distribution • For burglary net, 1 + 1 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 10 numbers (vs. 25-1 = 31)

Semantics The full joint distribution is defined as the product of the local conditional distributions: P (X1, … ,Xn) = πi = 1P (Xi | Parents(Xi)) e.g., P(j  m  a b e) = P (j | a) P (m | a) P (a | b, e) P (b) P (e) n

Constructing Bayesian networks • Choose an ordering of variables X1, … ,Xn • For i = 1 to n • add Xi to the network • select parents from X1, … ,Xi-1 such that P (Xi | Parents(Xi)) = P (Xi | X1, ... Xi-1) This choice of parents guarantees: P (X1, … ,Xn) = πi =1P (Xi | X1, … , Xi-1) (chain rule) = πi =1P (Xi | Parents(Xi)) (by construction) n n

Example • Suppose we choose the ordering M, J, A, B, E P(J | M) = P(J)?

Example • Suppose we choose the ordering M, J, A, B, E P(J | M) = P(J)? No P(A | J, M) = P(A | J)?P(A | J, M) = P(A)?

Example contd. • Deciding conditional independence is hard in noncausal directions • (Causal models and conditional independence seem hardwired for humans!) • Network is less compact: 1 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 4 = 13 numbers needed

Summary • Probability is a rigorous formalism for uncertain knowledge • Joint probability distribution specifies probability of every atomic event • Queries can be answered by summing over atomic events • For nontrivial domains, we must find a way to reduce the joint size • Independence and conditional independence provide the tools

Summary • Bayesian networks provide a natural representation for (causally induced) conditional independence • Topology + CPTs = compact representation of joint distribution • Generally easy for domain experts to construct

An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Chapter 13 &14.1-14.2: Uncertainty & Bayesian Networks